The bottom line is clear: Our vital interests in Afghanistan are limited and military victory is not the key to achieving them. On the contrary, waging a lengthy counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan may well do more to aid Taliban recruiting than to dismantle the group, help spread conflict further into Pakistan, unify radical groups that might otherwise be quarreling amongst themselves, threaten the long-term health of the U.S. economy, and prevent the U.S. government from turning its full attention to other pressing problems. -- Afghanistan Study Group

Two children are killed by a NATO helicopter strike in Ghazni. After first saying the strike was in support of Afghan troops, ISAF retracts that explanation. This was apparently an attack on Taliban positions. (Note: This has been reported independently by various sources, but for some reason not by the major wire services. At first I was reluctant to post it because I wasn't sure of the reliability of the sources, but the stories all seem very credible and generally consistent. This link is to a Qatari newspaper. - C)

Are you worried about the U.S. federal budget deficit and fiscal responsibility? Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will cost U.S. taxpayer up to $6 trillion, concludes a study conducted at Harvard. "As a consequence of these wartime spending choices, the United States
will face constraints in funding investments in personnel and diplomacy,
research and development and new military initiatives." (Yeah, or we could make rich people who got George W. Bush into office pay for their wars. -- C)

Saturday, March 30, 2013

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier
from a non-combat related injury in an undisclosed location in southern
Afghanistan on Friday, March 29th.

Reported security incidents#1: Up to 12 Taliban militants were killed Saturday in a coalition airstrike in the eastern Afghan province of Ghazni, authorities said. “(Saturday) in the morning the ANSF (Afghan National Security Forces) and Coalition Forces conducted a successful attack on a group of armed Taliban extremists in Espand-de village in eastern Ghazni city,” said a statement issued by coalition here. Meantime, a provincial health official, Baz Mohammad Himat, told Xinhua that a total of eight civilians have been admitted to a provincial capital hospital who sustained injuries in the airstrike in Espand-de area Saturday morning.#2: In addition, the Afghan army and police supported by the coalition forces have killed 14 Taliban insurgents, wounded four and arrested four others in Nangarhar, Laghman, Badakhshan, Kandahar and Helmand provinces within the last 24 hours, the country’s Interior Ministry said in a statement earlier Saturday.#3: A suicide bomber Saturday struck a police patrol in a town in northwestern Pakistan, killing a policeman and wounding six others, police said. The bombing took place at a market in Katalang, 50 kilometres (30 miles) northeast of Peshawar, the capital of restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which borders Afghanistan. "A policeman was killed and two other policemen were wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up close to a police patrol car," senior police official Shafi Ullah told AFP. Four civilians were also wounded in the suicide bombing, Ullah said. After the bombing police chased an alleged handler of the suicide bomber and killed him in a shoot out, the official said.

Reported security incidents#1: Meanwhile, a suicide bomber on a bicycle attacked the convoy of a paramilitary police commander in northwestern Pakistan, killing 11 people, including a four month-old infant, police said. The attack on the paramilitary police commander's convoy in northwestern Pakistan occurred in the city of Peshawar. The apparent target, Abdul Majeed Marwat, who heads the Frontier Constabulary, was not hurt, said police official Dost Mohammed Khan. The 11 dead included five members of the security forces and six civilians, said Khan. The civilians included two women, a young girl and a four month-old infant. Another 22 people were wounded, said Khan.

#2: A Taliban shadow governor was killed in northern Afghan province of Faryab overnight, the provincial government spokesman said on Thursday. "Upon intelligence report, an Afghan border police force carried out a search operation to capture a Taliban shadow governor named Khirullah Khan but during the firefight Khan and two other Taliban insurgents were killed in Qaramqol district Wednesday night," spokesman Jawid Beidar told Xinhua.

Reported security incidents#1: In Afghanistan more than 20 insurgents have been killed and at least four civilians in a joint NATO Afghan army operation in Logar province just south of Kabul. A local Taliban commander also died. A NATO spokesperson also confirmed that as part of the operation two captured Afghan soldiers were rescued.#2: Afghan security forces and the NATO- led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have defused 13 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in eastern Afghan provinces, the ISAF said on Thursday. "Afghan and Coalition Forces found and safely cleared 13 improvised explosive devices and detained one suspected insurgent during operations in eastern Afghanistan throughout the past 24 hours," the ISAF's Regional Command-East said in a press release. The home-made bombs were neutralized in Khost, Ghazni, Paktika, Kunar and Wardak provinces, it said.MoD: Lance Corporal Jamie Webb

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

The British MoD is reporting the death of a
British ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in Nad ‘Ali, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Tuesday,
March 26th.

Reported security incidents#1: Afghan and NATO troops killed 23 Taliban fighters in eastern Afghanistan, the Interior Ministry said Wednesday, dpa reported. The joint operation was conducted on Tuesday in Sajawand village of Baraki Bark district in Logar province. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said 12 of the movement's fighters were killed. In an online statement, the Taliban said 28 Afghan civilians were killed by NATO's bombardment of the village.#2: Three militants were killed and a security official was injured as Afghanistan-based militants attacked a checkpoint along the border in Nawagai tehsil of Bajaur tribal region on Tuesday. An official said the militants entered the area from Afghanistan and fired several rockets and mortars at the checkpost in Matak, 40km from Khar. “Security forces pushed back the militants and at least three attackers were killed and one security personnel was injured during the exchange of fire,” the official said.

#3: Meanwhile, militants fired a rocket at a checkpost of Levies Force in Khar on Monday night. The checkpost was partially damaged, but no casualty was reported, according to officials.#4: Officials said two security personnel were killed when a bomb detonated by remote control exploded Damadola village of Bajaur. The personnel were on routine patrol in the area when the bomb went off. No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

#5: At least two people were reportedly injured following an explosion in the 15th district of capital Kabul on Wednesday, police officials said. Afghan interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said a foreign national has also been injured following the blast which took place around 9am local time after a remote controlled IED device planted under the vehicle of a private security firm was detonated. He said, “An explosive device was attached under a vehicle and went off near a security check post at the 15th district.”#6: According to local authorities in north-eastern Badakhshan province of Afghanistan, at least 12 people including 2 Afghan police forces and 10 Taliban militants were killed following clashes in Wardoj district. The officials further added at least four Taliban militants were also injured during the clashes. Provincial security chief Gen. Imamuddin Motmaein confirming the report said Taliban militants attacked a security check post at Bashand village on Tuesday night.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Reported security incidents#1: At least 10 British troops have been injured in a suspected suicide car bomb attack on a patrol base in Afghanistan's Helmand province. The insurgents followed up the blast with small arms fire on the base in Nad Ali, one of the districts where UK troops have been based during their time in the country. Five insurgents were killed in the attack on the base on Monday night, which is jointly operated by the Afghan army and troops from Nato's International Security and Assistance Force (Isaf).#2: A group of seven suicide bombers attacked a police base in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Tuesday, killing five officers, police said. One bomber set off a large explosion at the entrance of the quick reaction police headquarters before two bombers blew themselves up inside the facility and four others died in a gun fight with police. “The first one detonated a car bomb; two others entered the base and detonated themselves and the remaining four were shot dead in police fire,”Hazrat Hussain Mashriqiwal, the Nangarhar province police spokesman, told AFP.#3: On Monday evening, a total of 27 Taliban militants had been killed in a clash which broke out during a poppy-eradication camping in Garmser district in Helmand province 555 km south of Kabul, the provincial governor Mohammad Naim said Tuesday. "An Afghan army officer and a policeman were also killed in the fighting lasting for hours,"Naim told Xinhua, adding one cop was also wounded in the attack.#4: In addition, up to 11 militants have been killed when army carried out a cleanup operation in Helmand's Marja district, said senior army official Gen. Seyyed Maluk. In neighboring Nad Ali district, an army soldier was wounded when a Taliban suicide bomber set off his explosive-laden truck near army outpost Monday night.

Monday, March 25, 2013

The dod is reporting the death of Sgt. 1st Class James F. Grissom at Landstuhl Regional
Medical Center, Germany on Thursday, March 21st. He was originally wounded from
a small arms weapon attack in Paktika Province, Afghanistan on Monday, March
18th.

The DoD is also reporting the death of Sgt. Tristan M. Wade who died from an IED blast in Qarah
Bagh District, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan on Friday, March
22nd.

Reported security incidents#1: Two Afghan civilians were killed and five were wounded in a roadside bombing in the country’s northern province of Faryab on Monday, police said. “Two civilians were killed and five others wounded when a civilian vehicle touched off a roadside bomb in Khwaja Sabz Posh district early Monday morning,” provincial police chief Nabi Jan Mullahkhil told Xinhua.

#2: The death toll from a suicide bombing on a military checkpost in Pakistan's North Waziristan region has reached 17, the military said on Sunday. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on Saturday, which prompted the regional government to impose a curfew in the tribal region near the Afghan border. The military responded with mortar and artillery fire directed at positions held by the Taliban. Another 10 soldiers were also wounded in the attack on a check post operated jointly by the regular army and the Frontier Corps paramilitary.#3: According to local authorities in north-eastern Badakhshan province of Afghanistan, Taliban militants abducted at least 10 Afghan national army soldiers along with a doctor in this province. Provincial governor spokesman Abdul Maroof Rasukh confirming the report said the individuals were abducted by Taliban militants during a military operation in Wardoj district around 3 days back.DoD: Sgt. 1st Class James F. GrissomDoD: Sgt. Tristan M. Wade

Speaking in Herat at the ninth anniversary of his son's death, Ismail
Khan said that the US-led foreign forces had achieved nothing in the
past 12 years, in fact, they were the reason for the rising insecurity
in the country. Ismail Khan, who is also the former governor of western Herat
province, said such an agreement with US or any other country will only
lead to a continuation of war and insecurity in Afghanistan.

Such pacts would hold Afghanistan back from self-sustainability and
the country would remain dependent on other nations for many more years, he said. "We shouldn't sign a document by which we would remain dependent,
wandering, miserable and at the same time have no other option but to
accept foreigners. We shouldn't sign this pact."

Editor's note: The tenth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq has been the occasion for massive self-justification and excuse-making on the part of the war's supporters, who in general have paid no price for their evil or folly; and much frustration on the part of the war's opponents over the latter fact. I haven't felt I had anything to add to that, but I must say that it was trivially easy for me to determine, within one day, that every single factual assertion Colin Powell made in his infamous presentation to the UN Security Council was verifiably false. This was widely reported in the European press. Yet the New York Times and the Boston Globe were unable to discover it, even though I and many others wrote to them with the information. The curtain of censorship that fell over North America for the first years of the Iraq war was the major impetus for the creation of this blog, and my own participation. The corporate media is nearly as credulous today, alas. I hope we don't have to move on here from Afghanistan to some other insane war, but maybe we should be taking a look already at Yemen and a couple of other places. -- C

Friday, March 22, 2013

Reported security incidents#1: A member of Afghanistan's government-backed militia programme has shot and killed five of his colleagues, an official has said. The shooting happened on Thursday morning in a remote part of Badghis province's Qadis district, provincial government spokesman Mirwais Mirzakwal said.#2: A U.S. drone attack in Pakistan's restive North Waziristan tribal district killed at least three suspected militants early Friday, an intelligence official said. The strike took place just after midnight in Datta Khel area west of the region's main town of Miranshah, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity. "A pair of missiles hit a vehicle shortly after midnight" Wednesday night he said, without providing any further details or the identity of those killed.#3: A bomb planted on a motorbike killed eight people and wounded another 15 on Friday, Express News reported. The bomb, detonated by remote control, exploded near a bus station in the remote town of Dera Allah Yar, around 170 miles (270 kilometres) southeast of Quetta, the provincial capital. “At least six people have been killed and more than 15 injured. The bomb was planted on a motorcycle,” police official Qamar Ul Hasan told AFP. Hasan said the target of the attack was yet not clear.#4: One person was killed and four were injured when unknown militants attacked Nato
containers in Peshawar and the Khyber tribal region on Friday, FP News desk
reported. According to Hayatabad police, the militants attacked a Nato container in
Peshawar in which one person was killed and three others were injured. “One of the injured is in a critical condition,” hospital officials said. Moreover, in Khyber’s Jamrud area, a Nato container was attacked and its
driver was injured. The vehicles were badly damaged in both incidents.#5: According to local authorities in north-eastern Badakhshan province of Afghanistan, Afghan security forces took control of various security check posts during clashes with the Taliban militants. Security check posts including “Barabara and Ghano” were under the control of Taliban militants during the past one week, which was confirmed by security officials in Wardoj district. Wardoj district governor Dawlat Mohammad Khawar said heavy clashes took place between Afghan security forces and Taliban militants which started at 8 pm on Thursday night and continued until 3 am on Friday morning. In the meantime provincial governor spokesman said a vast military operation was conducted in Wardoj district which resulted in death of 43 Taliban militants and control of the security check posts were taken by Afghan security forces. There are no reports if Afghan security forces and civilians have suffered any casualties during the clashes.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

The Polish MoND is reporting the death of a
soldier unreported by NATO. Senior Private
Paweł Ordyński died from a roadside bombing north-west of Ghazni, Afghanistan on
Wednesday, March 20th. One additional soldier was wounded in the
attack.

Reported security incidents#1: Police say a roadside bomb has killed a district administrator and two of his bodyguards in northern Afghanistan. Thursday's attack in Takhar province came as Afghans were celebrating the first day of the Persian new year, or Nowruz. Police spokesman Abdul Khalil Asir says the bomb went off as the official drove over a bridge near his home in Ishkamish district.#2: At least twelve people were killed on Thursday by a car bomb at a camp in
northwest Pakistan for people displaced by fighting between government forces
and Islamist militants, police said. The bomb exploded in the Jalozai camp in Nowshera in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa province, an area bordering Afghanistan and a stronghold for
insurgents bent on toppling Pakistan's U.S.-backed government. "Food was being distributed among the internally displaced persons
when the blast took place," Nowshera police chief Mohammad Hussain told Reuters,
adding that 35 people were wounded.#3: Eight Afghans were killed and eight others sustained injuries as two blasts hit the restive Helmand province in the south and relatively peaceful Takhar province in the north on Thursday, officials confirmed. In the first blast which took place in the premise of a Medressah or religious school in Marja district of the southern Helmand province with Lashkar Gah as its capital 555 km south of Kabul, five people were killed and six others injured, provincial administration spokesman Farid Zirak said. “An explosive device, apparently a suicide vest, exploded inside a Medressah in Shin Ghazak village of Marja district at around 07:00 a.m. local time, leaving five seminarians dead and injured six others,” Zirak told Xinhua.Pol/MoND: Senior Private Paweł Ordyński

Reported security incidents#1: Two police including a senior officer were killed and three others sustained injuries as a roadside bomb struck police van in Shindand district of Herat province with Herat city as its capital 640 km west of Kabul on Tuesday, police said. "A mine planted by militants on a road in Shindand district struck the vehicle of Nasir Ahmad the police chief of Herat-Farah highway today, killing him along with one of his bodyguards and injured three others," police chief of the western region Toryali Abdiak told Xinhua.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

It’s hard to believe that it’s been ten years since the dumb shits invaded
Iraq but it will likely take that much longer until he country settles but into
somewhat normalcy. But until whenever that is people are still being blown-up. –
whisker

Reported security incidents#1: Afghan police, supported by the army and the NATO-led coalition forces, eliminated five militants and detained 17 others in different provinces, the county’s Interior Ministry said on Tuesday. “Afghan National Police (ANP) in partnership with the army and coalition forces conducted a series of cleanup operations in surrounding areas of Kabul, Kunduz, Kandahar, Zabul, Uruzgan, Logar, Helmand and Farah provinces, killing five armed Taliban militants and detaining 17 others over the past 24 hours,” the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates. In addition, up to nine Taliban militants have been killed and 16 arrested during a three-day operation in the country’s northern province of Badakhshan. “Afghan army and police conducted a three-day operation ending on Monday. A total of six villages have been cleared of militants.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Reported security incidents#1: The Kandahar airport where Bulgarian NATO contingent is stationed has been under rocket fire, the Bulgarian caretaker Defense Minister, Todor Tagarev, announced Monday. Speaking for the Bulgarian National Television, BNT, Tagarev explained the incident happened just ahead of the rotation of Bulgarian rangers in Afghanistan. None of the some three hundred Bulgarian rangers at the Kandahar Air Base have been wounded, according to the Minister. There is no material damage either.#2: At least four people were killed and 30 injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up after terrorists stormed the judicial complex located on Khyber Road. According to police terrorists tried to enter the courtroom of Additional Sessions Judge Kulsoom Azam. Additional IG Masood Afridi said there were two suicide bombers; one blew himself up while the other was shot by the police. He added that the four policemen were injured in the attack. Masood Afridi confirmed that the premises of the complex had been secured.#3: Uzbek border guards shot to death three Afghans in the northern Balkh province, - reported "Afghanistan.ru” with reference to a senior official of the security forces. On the night of Saturday to Sunday, Uzbek border guards opened fire on the seven Afghan policemen, who went to the forest in the middle of the Amu Darya, according to an Afghan news service Pajhwork Afgan News. Three policemen were killed, according to the commander of the Afghan Border Guards, General Mohammad Jan Mamozay. The shooting was done on Afghan territory.#4: Units of Afghan national police during series of operations across the country over the past 24 hours have killed 12 Taliban militants, Interior Ministry said in a statement released here on Monday. The operations, according to the statement were conducted in Nangarhar, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Maidan Wardak, Logar, Farah and Helmand provinces which have also left eight more militants wounded and four others arrested. However, it did not say if there were any casualties on police.DoD: Staff Sgt. Steven P. BlassDoD: Chief Warrant Officer Bryan J. HendersonDoD: Capt. Sara M. KnutsonDoD: Staff Sgt. Marc A. Scialdo

Sunday, March 17, 2013

A five year old boy, kidnapped in Kabul a week ago, is killed by his captors in Parwan province when his family fails to pay ransom. (This article does not state whether the perpetrators were trying to finance insurgent activities, or if this was a purely economic crime. In any case, it illustrates the lawlessness afflicting Afghanistan. Readers will recall that Iraq was horrifically afflicted by kidnapping for ransom after order broke down.)

It seems this delay is caused by side negotiations over the presence of U.S. special forces in Wardak. Apparently the U.S. is using control of the prison as a bargaining chip force Karzai to rescind his order expelling the forces from the province, after reports that they had been involved in the torture and murder of civilians, which the U.S. denies. ""There might be a compromise on Wardak when the Afghan side is given
full control of Bagram prison, which would help President Karzai who
views the issue as a matter of sovereignty," a senior government
official told Reuters at the weekend, speaking on condition of anonymity
because he was not authorised to speak about the matter," reports Hamid Shalizi.

On Saturday, the influential Ulema Council, whose members are
appointed by President Karzai and represent all of the country’s Islamic
clerics, issued a threatening statement demanding the withdrawal from
Wardak as well as a transfer of the American-controlled prison at Bagram
to Afghan control. Also on Saturday, 300 demonstrators from Wardak Province staged a
noisy but peaceful demonstration calling for Mr. Karzai’s order to be
obeyed. Some were apparently relatives of people who disappeared in
raids by Afghans who work alongside the Americans in Wardak, and they
carried photographs of nine people who had disappeared after one of the
night operations.

Reported security incidents#1: Two local policemen were killed after a group of armed insurgents ambushed their
vehicle on the outskirts of Ghazni City, the capital of southern Ghazni
province, an official said on Saturday. The gun attack in the Khodaidad area took place late on Friday, when the
NATO-backed Afghan Local Police (ALP) members were passing the area, said Fazl
Mohammad Sabawon, the governor’s spokesman.

Friday, March 15, 2013

The DoD is reporting the death of a sailor previously unreported by the
military. Chief Petty Officer
Christian Michael Pike died from combat related injuries in Landstuhl Medical
Hospital, Lanstuhl Germany on Sunday, March 10th. He was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

The DoD is reporting another new death of a soldier previously unreported
by the military. Spc. David T.
Proctor died from non-combat related injuries at Walter Reed National Military
Medical Center, Bethesda, Md on Wednesday, March 13th. He was injured somewhere
in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan on Sunday, March 3rd. News reports that a
steel door fell on him.

Reported security incidents#1: Afghanistan's intelligence agency says it has defused a massive truck bomb that could have destroyed a whole area of the capital. The National Directorate of Security said Friday the eight tons of explosives were found early in the week in eastern Kabul in a night raid. A resulting firefight killed five suspected plotters. Two other people were arrested.#2: Afghan security forces launched a cleanup operation in Badakhshan province 315
km northeast of Kabul on Thursday to evict Taliban militants from their
hideouts, a spokesman said Friday.
"During the operation which covered Wardoj and Jerm districts so far one
Taliban rebel has been killed and 10 others have been arrested," spokesman for
provincial administration Abdul Marouf Rasikh said. He also said that the operation will continue till the anti- government
militants are killed or surrender.#3: Twenty-four more persons were killed in the ongoing clashes between the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and pro-government armed organisation Ansarul Islam (AI) as around 300 troops entered the area on Thursday to help the latter in the Maidan area of Tirah Valley, Khyber Agency, tribal and official sources said. The sources said clashes between the two rivals continued on the second consecutive day on Thursday in Tarkikhel of Qambarkhel in Maidan locality of the valley in which small and heavy weapons were used.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Reported security incidents#1: Six Taliban fighters and a policeman were killed in Sangin district of Helmand province yesterday, officials said Wednesday. On the occasion, the Sangin police chief Shamsullah told reporters the Taliban attacked a police patrol in Charkhakano Manda area, two kilometres from Sangin's district headquarters, late yesterday. Six Taliban fighters, including their commanders Mullah Shah Wali and Mullah Abdul Wali, and a cop were killed and two more policemen sustained injuries in the gunfight, he added.#2: At least 16 militants were killed and 12 others were injured in fresh clashes between banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and Ansarul Islam in Maidan area of Tirah valley in Khyber Agency, tribal sources said on Wednesday. The sources said that over 299 fighters of TTP descended from Drey Stani hilltop, bordering the Kukikhel area, to Narkhaw area populated by Qambarkhel Afridi tribe in Ansarul Islam-controlled Maidan part of the valley on Tuesday evening and occupied two dozens of houses. Subsequently, around 600 volunteers of AI from different parts of Maidan moved to Narkhaw and launched the counter-attack. The sources said the fighting between the groups was going on till filling of this report. They said that 10 TTP militants and six volunteers of AI were killed and 12 others from both sides were injured.#3: Casualties were feared Wednesday evening as a suicide bombing went off in an area where Afghan national game of Buzkashi was held in the northern Afghanistan province of Kunduz, local media reported.#4: national directorate of security (NDS) officails announced at least five Haqqani network militants were during a gun battle in capital Kabul on Wednesday.

Reported security incidents#1: Gunmen shot dead a senior local election official in Quetta on Tuesday, police said, days before parliament is due to dissolve ahead of national polls. The shooting took place in Chandni Chowk, a congested neighbourhood of Quetta, the capital of volatile Balochistan province.#2: At least three people were killed and 20 other wounded in a suicide blast and subsequent firing near police station in Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday. According to local police, intense firing was heard soon after an explosion near Sadar police station of the town where check posts and police stations are often been attacked by militant groups. Police said the suicide bomber targeted police van, resulting two police officials and another unknown man was killed and 20 other people including policemen sustained injuries, officials told the media adding that the van was also completely destroyed.DoD: Capt. Andrew M. Pedersen-KeelDoD: Staff Sgt. Rex L. Schad

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported by the military.
Tech. Sgt. Larry D. Bunn
died from a non-combat related incident at an undisclosed base in Southwest Asia on
Thursday, March 7th.

NATO is reporting the deaths of two USAFOR-A
soldiers when ANA soldiers turned a weapon on U.S and ANA soldiers in an
undisclosed base in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, March 11th. News reports that
the ANA soldier fired a PK machine gun attached
to an ANA vehicle killing two US special forces members, three Afghan policemen
and three Afghan army commandos. Other news reported up to eight additional U.S.
soldiers were wounded in the attack.

Erased US data shows 1 in 4 missiles in Afghan airstrikes now fired by drone

Reported security incidents#1: A helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan killed five service members with international security forces on Monday, according to an ISAF Joint Command statement. The cause of the crash is under investigation. There was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the incident, the statement said.#2: In neighbouring Helmand province, a landmine detonated late on Monday under a tractor, killing four civilians, the Interior Ministry said.#3: A mortar round also hit a house on Monday in Helmand, killing two civilians, it said.

#4: At least three people were killed and 18 others including two policemen injured in a suicide blast that occurred within the limits of Saddar police station in Bannu, Geo News reported. Police said the suicide bomber on a motorcycle targeted a police van.#5:A policeman was killed while defusing a bomb without taking precautionary steps
in Matni area here on Tuesday. According to police sources, police team reached at Adizai area of Matni after
they received information pertaining to presence of a bomb in the area.#6: A roadside bomb attack on Monday in the northwest restive tribal region killed three soldiers and wounded two others, officials said. A captain was killed along with two other soldiers when their vehicle hit an improvised bomb in Masuzai area of Kurram tribal district, a security official told AFP.#7: According to local authorities in northern Parwan province of Afghanistan, at least two missiles were fired on US-run Bagram air base in Bagram district on Monday night. Bagram district security chief Zmarai Nasiri said two missiles landed inside the Bagram airfield last night. Mr. Nasiri further added no casualties or damage to the base have reported so far.#8: In a separate incident at least five Taliban militants were killed and two others were injured following clashes with the Afghan security forces in northern Parwan province. A spokesman for the Afghan police forces in the north Ahmad Jawad said the incident took place after a number of Taliban militants attacked a security check post.DoD: Tech. Sgt. Larry D. Bunn

Monday, March 11, 2013

NATO to transfer security of Afghan province to local forces: spokesman

Reported security incidents#1: Several NATO and Afghan service members were killed Monday when an assailant wearing an Afghan service uniform opened fire on the group, NATO said. The attack happened late Monday morning in eastern Afghanistan, said Maj. Adam Wojack, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

Several US and Afghan soldiers have been shot dead by a
gunman wearing Afghan uniform, the international military force Isaf says. Several others were wounded in the attack at a remote military base in
eastern Afghanistan. Afghan officials told the BBC the gunman was either a member of the local
police or an insurgent posing as one.

#2: Earlier on Monday, police in the Afghan capital Kabul said two civilian lorry
drivers were killed and one wounded when they were fired on by an Isaf convoy.
Isaf said soldiers opened fire to protect themselves when the two drivers
failed to comply with a warning from the convoy.#3: A commander of the Afghan Local Police was killed and 11 more, including six
civilians, were injured when the Taliban attacked a security checkpost in Jurm
district of Badakhshan province on Sunday. A gunfight erupted between the
Taliban and Afghan Local Police after the attack, the district governor Abdul
Jabbar told the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP). He said a police commander, Qurban,
was killed while 11 more, including six civilians and five cops, were injured in
the gunfight.He said the Taliban also suffered casualties but he did not
have accurate information.#4: Meanwhile, three Afghan Local Police personnel were injured when the Taliban
allegedly attacked their vehicle in Panjwai district of Kandahar province on
Sunday. The Taliban attacked a vehicle of the Afghan Local Police in Sperwan
area of Panjwai, the district governor Fazl Muhammad Ashaqzai told the Afghan
Islamic Press (AIP).

#5: A civilian was killed and two more sustained injuries in a roadside bombing in
Farah province yesterday, an official said Sunday. A vehicle carrying
civilians struck an improvised explosive device in sixth security zone of Farah
city yesterday, the Farah deputy governor Muhammad Younis Rasuli told the Afghan
Islamic Press (AIP). The victims had no government job, he said, adding they
were relatives of a policeman.

#6: 2 police killed in attack on Iranian Border outpost: Two border
police have been killed and another injured in an apparent Taliban attack in
western Farah province, local officials said. The attack took place in
Farah’s Pasht Koh district of the province when a group of insurgents raided a
border police outpost, according to the commander of border police in western
Afghanistan Shir Ahmad Maladani.

#7: Two police corporals were injured when a roadside bomb they tried to defuse
exploded overnight in Jalalabad, the capital of Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar
province, an official said on Monday. The blast in front of Jalalabad Palace took place around 10pm Sunday night near
a police check point, police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashriqwal told an Afghan
news agency.#8: A Pakistan Army Captain and two soldiers were killed whereas two others were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in Upper Orakzai tribal region, officials confirmed. The attack took place late last night when the security forces convoy was targeted in Arkhanjo Mamozai village in Upper Orakzai tribal region,” the Frontier Corps media spokesperson Major Fazl told a private TV channel.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Prominent Afghan actor Nazar Mohammad Majnonyar Helmandi is killed by a NATO airstrike as he is being held by militants. According to his brother, Helmandi had gone to a town near Lashkargah to visit his ailing sister when he was seized on suspicion of spying for the government, and he was being interrogated when the attack occurred. (His films have concerned the conflict against the drug trade and insurgency.) Three insurgents were also killed in the attack.

Karzai further accuses the U.S. and Taliban of collusion. He says they are holding negotiations in Qatar without Afghan involvement; and furthermore that the motive for ongoing Taliban attacks is to provide a pretext for U.S. forces to remain in the country. Karzai said in a speech that "The blasts indeed show support for the Americans to stay in Afghanistan after 2014. Yesterday's bombings in Khost and Kabul were not aimed at showing their strength to the USA but to serve the USA." (Whoa! One is inclined to think that when the history of this conflict is written, it won't resemble the official story being channeled to us by the corporate media today. -- C)

Last October, the Air Force began
releasing the monthly totals of strikes in Afghanistan in an effort to
give the public more information on its overseas operations. But the
move appears to have been reversed. The February numbers released March 7th
just contain empty boxes for the drone strike data, and all of the
previous data has also been deleted from older press releases on the
site," according to Khaama.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

The DoD is reporting the death of an USFOR-A soldier. Spc. Cody D. Suggs
died from a non-combat related incident at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan on Friday, March 7th.
Here’s NATO’s release.

Reported security incidents#1: A civilian contractor and two Afghan soldiers were killed on a U.S. base yesterday afternoon when three men wearing Afghan National Army uniforms stormed the gate and began firing, military officials said, in what appeared to be the second insider attack on Western troops this year. The shooting, at Forward Operating Base Tagab in the northern province of Kapisa, also wounded four coalition troops before the attackers were killed, officials said.Officials were unsure about whether the attackers were Afghan soldiers or impostors. The attack began about 1:30 p.m., when the three uniformed men slammed an Afghan army vehicle into the main gate of the coalition base, officials said. A firefight then broke out, resulting in the deaths of the attackers, two Afghan soldiers and the civilian contractor.#2: A suicide bomber on a bicycle killed nine people outside the defence ministry in central Kabul on Saturday during a visit to the Afghan capital by new US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. The blast occurred near the main entrance gate of the heavily-guarded ministry, and Taliban militants immediately claimed the attack was timed to send a message to Hagel, who arrived in Kabul late on Friday. Police said in a statement that nine civilians had died and 13 others were injured including two military personnel, without giving further details.#3: In another suicide attack on Saturday, eight children and a policeman were killed in the eastern city of Khost in a strike that targeted a joint Afghan and international troop patrol.#4: An explosion inside the Jamia Masjid near Meena Bazaar has left 4 dead including the Imaam of the mosque while 28 others were injured, Geo News reported. The Explosion took place inside the Jamia Masjid Bilal located in Mohala Baqir Shah near the Meena Bazaar in Peshawar.DoD: Spc. Cody D. Suggs

Friday, March 8, 2013

Reported security incidents#1: Pakistani security forces’ operation in parts of Upper Orakzai Agency is continued as eight more militants were killed in northwestern tribal belt. The sources said that the forces conducted operation in Aotmela and Mandermela area of agency and destroyed six hideouts of the militants. “Eight militants were killed in the operation while dozens other received injures,” they added.At least 11 militants were killed in ongoing military operations in different
area of Upper Orakzai Agency and Khyber Agency here on
Friday. According to security sources, security forces backed
by jet helicopters bombarded at hideouts of militants in Tirah Valley, killing
three militants while several hideouts were destroyed in the shelling. In
another operation, ,military jet fighter fired shells at positions of militants
in Oatmila and Nandarmila areas of Upper Orakzai, killing eight militants and
destroying three hideouts.#2: According to reports several armed militants attacked a US military base in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan on Friday. The incident took place in Jalalabad city and unconfirmed reports suggest that the armed men are Afghan national army and police officrs. The assailant armed men are also equipped with Humvee armoured vehicles and modern military equipments and at least one US soldier has reportedly been killed following the clashes.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Reported security incidents#1: At least five suspected militants were killed during a security forces operation in the northwestern tribal region of Orakzai. The militants were killed in the tribal region’s Ghundamela area after which security forces took control of the insurgent hideout.#2: Separately, in Orakzai’s Nadirmela area, a remote-control bomb attack targeted a security forces vehicle, killing one security man and wounding three others.#3: Pakistani security forces swooped down militant hideouts in Orakzai Agency,
killing at least 12 and taking control of one their bastions in the region, FP
News desk reported on Thursday.
Sources said that five militants were killed in clashes as troops advanced in
Ghunda Mela to take control of their stronghold. Seven others were killed when forces launched operation in Nadir Mela after a
blast struck security forces’ vehicle which killed one soldier and injured three
others.#4: Two people were wounded as two bomb blasts rocked Herat city, the capital of Herat province 640 km west of Kabul, on Thursday, police said. The first blast took place next to the office of provincial governor and close to a sport stadium at 11:10 a.m. local time and the second one happened a few minutes later on the road leading to the Herat airport, deputy to Herat police Abdul Hamid Hamidi said. "In both the incidents the terrorists planted explosive devices on two motorbikes and detonated by remote control which injured two people, both civilians," Hamidi told Xinhua. The first blast near a sport stadium where a public gathering was supposed to be held left two injured, but the second blast targeted a police van on the road harmed no one, the official stressed.#5: According to local authorities in western Farah province of Afghanistan, at least 12 Afghan national police officers were killed or injured following an explosion in this province. The officials further added the incident took place in Khak-e-Safid district, killing at least 3 police officers and injuring 9 others. A local security official speaking on the condition of anonymity said Taliban militants had planted a land mine inside the field of opium in Khak-e-Safid district. He said the blast took place while Afghan police officers were busy with destroying the opium fields, killing two Afghan police along with an Afghan national army officer. In the meantime the security official in Farah province said at least 3 militants were killed and 5 others were injured following a separate gun battle in this province.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Reported security incidents#1: Sixteen Afghan soldiers and policemen have been killed by the insurgents in the
Warduj district of remote northern Badakhshan province, an official said on
Wednesday. The Taliban had seized 23 security personnel following an ambush on a joint
convoy of the army and police in the Ghani area of the district three days ago,
the governor’s spokesman said. Abdul Maroof Rasikh told an Afghan news agency that 16 of the captives were
later shot dead and their bodies handed over to area residents. Most of the
victims were army troops, he said. Mohammad Khawar, the district chief, said the remaining seven security
personnel had been set free as a result of intervention from local elders. After
consulting local authorities, he indicated an operation would be launched
shortly to clear the district of the Taliban.#2: The police on early Wednesday morning foiled a massive terror bid by recovering a 40 kilogram bomb from a rickshaw and defusing it timely on Saryab Road in Quetta. According to sources, the police cordoned off the area after getting information about presence of a suspicious rickshaw near hospital on Saryab Road. The bomb disposal squad arrived on the spot and recovered a 40 kilograms’ bomb from the rickshaw and successfully defused it.#3: Two Italian soldiers and an Afghan interpreter were injured on Wednesday in a bomb attack on a military patrol in the western Afghan province of Farah. The three were taken by helicopter to a United States camp hospital at Farah with arm injuries and are not said to be in a serious condition. The soldiers are part of the Italian contingent in the NATO-led ISAF mission in Afghanistan.#4: According to local security officials in north-eastern Takhar province of Afghanistan, an Afghan kid was injured following a suicide bomb blast in this province. The incident took place around 3pm local time after the suspected suicide bomber detonated his explosives inside a residential house. Provincial security commandment spokesman Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai confirming the report said the incident took place in the 3rd district of Takhar city.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Reported security incidents#1:Units of Afghan police have killed 11 Taliban militants during a series of operations and arrested 19 others over the past 24 hours, Interior Ministry said in a statement released here on Tuesday. During the operations which carried out in Kandahar, Nangarhar, Laghman, Zabul, Paktiya, Uruzgan, Herat and Helmand provinces, the police also discovered a number of arms and ammunitions, the statement added. It did not say if there were any casualties on the police personnel.#2: Up to four insurgents have been killed and eight others detained in different operations carried out by Afghan forces and the NATO-led coalition troops, in the latest raids against insurgency in the war-hit country, the coalition forces said on Tuesday. "An Afghan and coalition force killed four insurgents and wounded three others during a security operation in Ghaziabad district, Kunar province, yesterday," the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a press release.#3: On Monday, four Afghan border policemen and a civilian were injured when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) went off in Khost city, capital of eastern Khost province 150 km southeast of Kabul.#4: Afghan interior ministry officials on Tuesday announced to foil a deadly attack on Afghan parliament after discovering and seizing around 15 rounds of missiles from capital Kabul. The officials further added that the militants were looking to carry out attack on an opening ceremony of the Afghan parliament and the missiles were planted in Char Asiab area.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Reported security incidents#1: Two Taliban militants were killed as they came in contact with security forces in Kunar province 185 km east of Kabul on Sunday, provincial police chief said Monday. "Some personnel of Border Police Force were on routine patrol in Marawara district yesterday evening when they came under Taliban attack and the police returned fire killing two militants on the spot," Habibullah Sayed Khili told Xinhua. There were no casualties on the police personnel, he contended.#2: According to reports at least one Afghan woman was killed and two others were injured following shooting in capital Kabul city on Sunday evening. The incident reportedly took place in Kart-e-Seh area of Kabul city after security guards of Jamil Karzai, former Afghan parliament opened fire on a civilian vehicle. The vehicle was targeted by security guards of Jamil Karzai mistaking it to suspected militants.

The Pakistani clerics last week released a statement saying recently
that if Muslims have no nuclear weapons, they can sacrifice their lives
for the sake of God, suggesting that suicide attacks against the US
forces in Afghanistan would be considered permissible. The National Coalition has described the Pakistani's statement as an
historic betrayal that will not be forgotten, saying they have clearly
indicated they support the insurgent groups who are involved in killing
the innocent. "The Ulema Council, people and the government of Afghanistan should
respond to these treacherous remarks by Pakistan. Such Fatwas are
plotted to destroy Afghanistan," said Abdullah Abdullah, head of National
Coalition.

Khaama has more on this story, including reaction by additional secular leadership. The Fatwa extends to Kashmir and Palestine as well as Afghanistan. A regional Islamic conference has been planned for Kabul, at which the issue of suicide attacks was to be discussed, but the Pakistani clerics have decided not to attend.

ISAF announces various operations, including the arrest of a Haqqani leader in Khost province and the arrest or killing of small numbers of Taliban in Kunar, Nangarhar, Logar, Kandahar and Kunduz provinces.

A commentary in India Times predicts Afghanistan will partition along ethnic lines once NATO forces withdraw. (Afghanistan's previous civil war, and the alliance formed by the U.S. to drive out the Taliban, were largely along ethnic lines. Given the continued weakness of the central government and the lack of a democratic culture in the country, this does not seem implausible. -- C)

Saturday, March 2, 2013

blog: How the US Decides Drone-kill People when it Doesn’t Know Who they Are (Currier)Reported security incidents

#1: A suicide attack on the 205th Atal Military Corps headquarters was foiled in
Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province on Saturday, an official
said.
The incident took place around 11am, Corps Commander Brig. Gen. Syed Waqif
Shah said.
The attacker exploded his explosive vest when security guards opened fire at
him.
As result of the explosion, the bomber was killed and one security guard
wounded, the commander said.

#2: update Australian soldiers in southern Afghanistan shot dead two children tending cattle, local officials said on Saturday as the international coalition launched an inquiry into the incident. The two children, aged seven and eight, were killed on Thursday morning as Australian soldiers fought back after a Taliban attack in southern Uruzgan province, said provincial governor Amir Mohammad Akhundzada.

#3: Insurgents shot and killed two policemen at a market place in
Indian-administered Kashmir, police said. A police statement said the assailants fled after Saturday’s attack near a
bus stop in Handwara, a town 90 kilometres north of Srinagar.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Reported security incidents#1: A roadside bomb killed nine people, mostly border policemen, Thursday in Afghanistan. The afternoon blast occurred in Dangam district of Kunar province, near Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan, according to a spokesman for the provincial government. Wasifullah Wasifi said seven border policemen and two civilians were killed, and two women were wounded in the attack.#2: According to reports an incident allegedly involving civilian casualties has taken place during an Australian military operation in Afghanistan. (no real details just fluff - whisker)